Life Used to be So Simple
by LadyRebelle
Summary: Meet the Xanatos' daughter, Xeenia - playful, defiant, and a bit odd. Add two rivaling tricksters to the picture, and you get an amused David and a frustrated Fox. The Gargoyles are doing their own thing; this story focuses on the Third Race. Rated M for a possible future chapter.
1. Birth of Xeenia

A/N: I know I don't have the greatest track record of finishing a story, but I've fallen in love with this one and I'll do my best to finish it. I've discovered a way to find time to work on it and to keep myself from getting discouraged. I've discovered Google Docs, so now I can work on it, little by little, at home on my computer or at work on my smartphone when I go on my breaks. I need constructive criticism (not biased opinions please; I'm wanting to improve my writing skills and I need to know how I'm doing.) Hope you guys enjoy this! I've spent a week working on this whenever I got a chance; I work 40 hours a week and I'm a mom to a 2 year old, but I miss writing and I'm trying to get back into it and actually finish something. :)

Edit: Be warned, this story has 'underage' sex in it, so if you don't like it, then don't read. But Xeenia is a Fey and Fey coming of age is different than that of humans, so technically she wouldn't be underage. When that chapter comes up (don't have it written yet), then I'll give a warning at the beginning of the chapter.

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Life Used to be So Simple - Chapter 1:

Part 1: Birth of Xeenia

Year 2000

Three elegant woman, each identical except for their hair color, stood in a circle around a softly glowing orb. In it, to an ordinary human, looked only like swirling fog; but the three woman could see something else. In it, they could see a tiny Fey baby with hair that bordered between pink and orange - a color inherited from her grandmother. Her skin tone was a light cream like her mother's. Her sky blue eyes sparkled as she gazed up at her mother, who cooed over her and tugging at her newborn baby's small, elfish ears.

"Fate is a very mysterious thing indeed," The black haired sister, Seline, stated. "This is his last chance..."

"Yes, and it is incredibly rare that a full-fledged Fey be born to a human father, and a half human mother." Said the blond haired sister, Phoebe.

The white haired sister, Luna, spoke next, "I see another rare occurrence." She stared at the orb for a moment, a quizzical look upon her face.

"What is it, sister?" Phoebe asked. It wasn't very often that something would confuse Luna.

Luna glanced at both of her sisters before stating, "We must speak to Titania."

In the mortal realm, Fox Xanatos held her two hour old baby girl, while six year old Alexander sat on the bed with her and stared in awe at his new sister. Her husband, David Xanatos, stood proudly next to the bed. He reached out his pointer finger to the baby and allowed her tiny hand to grab onto it. She giggled as he waggled it up and down. Fox looked up at her husband, "Where's Owen? I thought he would have been here, since he was there when Alex was born."

David stood straighter, just realizing that Owen wasn't there. "This _is_ odd for him."

As if on cue, a knock sounded on the door and Xanatos answered with a "come in". The door opened to reveal a clean cut blond haired man, wearing a pressed black suit and glasses. "I apologize for being late, sir. There had been a car wreck in the parking garage and it was impossible to get through the parking garage's hospital entrance, and so all visitors had to walk around the hospital to the other entrance." Owen said with a very annoyed expression upon his face, still remembering how the wreck even happened.

David gestured to the new baby, "It's fine, but don't you want to meet Xeenia?"

Owen's eyes softened and he smiled, "Of course, sir." He came up to the side of the bed and carefully held the tiny bundle that Fox handed him.

The moment he touched her, Owen felt a strong pulse, but only once. _"That's strange."_ His eyes widened when he saw her long, elfish ears. Normally anyone lesser than a full-fledged Fey didn't have those ears. He brought up his left finger to her cheek and gently stroked it as her wide, innocent eyes looked back up at him. He used a tiny amount of magic, the only thing he _can_ do anymore, to check whether she was a quarter Fey, as she was supposed to be, or a full Fey, as her ears were indicating. The results surprised him - she really was a full Fey. _"How is this possible?"_ He moved his finger down her face and found a ticklish spot under her chin, causing her to giggle and she grabbed his finger with both hands. _"I'll have to speak to Titania about this."_ Owen handed Xeenia back to her mother, "She's adorable, congratulations." His faced turned serious, "Mr. Xanatos, I need to step out for a bit, if you don't mind?"

"No, not at all. Can I ask what this is about?"

"I just need to speak to Titania about something."

"Is this about her ears?"

"Yes, sir. I think it's very strange that a quarter Fey has those kind of ears."

"Then take all the time you need; I'm a little curious myself."

Before leaving the room, Owen said, "Good day, sir." David nodded at him before turning back to his daughter.

On his way back to the Eyrie building, Owen couldn't help but think of this strange occurrence. He had never before witnessed or even heard of something like this before. He pulled into the Eyrie building's garage and locked up the car after stepping out of it. He stepped into an elevator and pressed the topmost floor. The ride up seemed to last for an hour before the doors finally opened. Owen stepped out into the quiet hallway and headed for his office. He pushed open the big, heavy doors and walked over to a an intricate full-length mirror.

He placed his hand on the glass and recited a spell in Latin to call for Titania, Queen of the Third Race. The image of a tall, teal-skinned, regal-looking Fey with orange-pink hair much like her granddaughter's, appeared in the glass. Owen removed his hand as Titania spoke, "I haven't heard from you since Fox announced her second pregnancy. Has the child been born?"

"Yes, but there is something different about her."

Titania raised her hand to stop him and as she stepped out of the mirror, placed her hand on Owen's forehead and a small golden glow flashed for a second. "I've now seen your memories of that hospital visit. This _is_ strange indeed." Titania turned back to the mirror, placed her hand on it, and said, "Come forth, Coyote." A tall dark human-looking man with greased back black hair, wearing jeans and a leather jacket over a white muscle shirt, appeared in the mirror.

"Yes, my lady?"

"I will be needing to speak to the two of you, but I want Fox and David to hear as well, so they'll be informed of what will be happening." Coyote stepped out of the mirror and Titania waved her hand, a green swirl of magic emitted from it and surrounded the three of them. In an instant, they disappeared from Owen's office and reappeared in Fox's room at the hospital.

"Mother!" Fox exclaimed nervously, bringing Xeenia closer to her. When Alexander was born, Titania feared that his magic would become dormant like Fox's if he wasn't taught to use it at an early age and to continue using it as he grew. Fox had lived the life of a normal human girl, not knowing anything about the other half of her blood and, because she wasn't taught how to use her magic, it became dormant. It was near impossible to teach her how to use magic now.

A battle had broke out when Titania tried to take Alex and, for the first time, to protect her baby, Fox showed her magic, but that was the only time she was able to do that; any efforts afterwards to try to bring forth her magic again were in vain. Titania and Oberon, who was the king of Avalon, talked it over and decided to allow Alex to live in the mortal realm, but only if Puck was to teach and protect him.

As punishment for refusing to go back to Avalon when Oberon summoned the Third Race for the Gathering, Oberon placed a curse on Puck. Now, he can only use magic and change back into his true form to teach and protect Alex.

Puck created a human alter ego named Owen Burnett many years ago, and he loved his creation because he considered it a challenge to create a personality completely opposite of his own and play the part well. But now, he was forced to be Owen all the time, with no way to ever turn back into his true form and be himself, unless Alex needed him.

Titania walked over to Fox and Xeenia and gently placed her hand on Fox's shoulder, "Do not worry, daughter, I'm not going to try to take her from you. In fact," She gestured to Coyote, "I will be adding another person to your home." Everyone looked over to Coyote, confused, but not as much as he was.

Coyote stepped forward, "What's the reason for this? Couldn't I have had a heads up?"

Titania straightened up to face Coyote and Owen better, "I would rather have told everyone at once rather than repeat myself." She paused before continuing, "Both you and Puck are to be her teachers."

Coyote and Owen stared in surprise at their queen; Owen spoke up, "But we both have our own teaching styles, it could confuse her."

Titania held out her arms for Xeenia and handed her to her. "The two of you will have to work something out."

"Mother, why are you doing this?"

"I'd like to see what kind of person she could turn out to be with being around so many different personalities, not to mention what she could learn from both Puck and Coyote, as they specialize in different types of magic." She turned to Owen and Puck, "While I can't overrule Oberon on his decision to ban Puck from Avalon, I _can_ break the curse he placed on him." Holding Xeenia in one arm, she raised her other arm and circled her finger in the air, pointing it in Owen's direction. Green energy swirled from her finger and zapped Owen, engulfing him. Owen held his head with his hands and grunted; all of his power being returned to him all at once overwhelmed him a little. His body glowed green, so bright that one couldn't make out any details; his form shrunk and the green light vanished. An elfish-looking man with long white hair, wearing a purple toga over a red and gold shirt and dark purple pants with brown boots on his feet stood in Owen's place.

Puck looked up at Coyote, who looked down at Puck. Coyote snickered, "I think I know why she also wants me to be her teacher: all your skills in magic are for playing pranks on people! You don't know anything serious!"

Puck flared up and floated up to Coyote's eye level, "What was that, miscreant?! You want to say that again?!" Puck's hands and eyes began to glow; he had taken to being a teacher very seriously, and Coyote saying something like that, something he knew nothing about, was a complete insult.

"All I'm saying is that you're extremely childish! My lady is probably embarrassed that she even picked you to be Alex's teacher!" Coyote taunted as he poked Puck in the chest.

"Why you…!" Puck tackled Coyote; Titania sighed and used magic to separate the two fighting Fey.

"I am ordering the two of you to at least _try_ to get along, or I'll be turning you both into pigs and make sure that you two can't change back!" Puck and Coyote gulped and straightened up. They hadn't seen Titania like that since they lived on Avalon before Titania and Oberon divorced. Back then, all four tricksters stayed together and we're pretty good friends. Well, Puck and Coyote had never really got along and they were more like rivaling brothers than friends. All four tricksters were Avalon's trouble makers; they drove everyone nuts.

"This child is a very rare occurrence; I have only seen one other full Fey born to human parents before, but that was about ten thousand years ago. There is a reason why she was born a full Fey." Everyone in the room waited for the reason, but Titania changed the subject, "Anyhow, lessons begin as soon as possible. Coyote, you are also going to be Alexander's teacher, as well, but the two of you should switch up every day. For example, one day, Puck has Xeenia and Coyote has Alexander, and the next day Puck has Alexander and Coyote has Xeenia. It would make it fair for both children and that way Puck won't have to teach two children at once."

Titania handed Xeenia to Coyote, "You are the only one who hasn't met little Xeenia yet." Coyote's eyes widened as he felt a strong pulse, which happened only once.

Coyote looked up in confusion at his queen; he had never felt anything like that before. "My lady, I had felt a strong pulse, like a heartbeat, and it was only once. Do you know what that could be?"

Puck spoke up, "I felt that the first time I held her, too!"

Titania smiled, "That is a story for another time. I must return to Avalon now. I need to make sure the other two tricksters haven't destroyed the place." She sighed in exasperation at the latter; even though every member of the Third Race were also known as "Oberon's Children", they really weren't all his children (or hers). But most of them were like her own children and she often found herself playing the role of the mother. Puck tried to stifle a snigger and Coyote smirked; they knew the other two were always up to something.

In a flash of light, Titania disappeared. That was something most of the other Fey couldn't do, was teleport to and from Avalon without using Titania's mirror or some other item charmed item.

A week later, on a warm July night, was time for Xeenia's first lesson. The trouble was, the two tricksters were in the family room of the castle, arguing over who was to get her for that night. David watched the two, amused, and Fox had the same exasperated look her mother had the day Xeenia was born when she had mentioned the other two tricksters. _"Now I understand what she means. Just Puck being around is fine, but get him with another trickster and they act like children!"_

Puck flew around, trying to hit Coyote with a spell to stick his feet to the floor, while Coyote ran and hid behind pillars and when the spell hit the pillar, a black tar-like substance formed on it. Fox couldn't take it anymore; the place was going to end up in shambles if they continued like this, "STOP! GET OVER HERE!" The two tricksters halted with a look that clearly read, _"Oh crap, she's going to be like her mother…"_ The only difference was that she couldn't use magic, but they knew she could summon her mother using the mirror.

Fox pulled out a coin that Alexander had handed her earlier that day. She checked both sides just to be sure and then said, "We'll flip a coin and see who gets her first tonight. Puck is heads and Coyote is tails." She flipped and caught it, then opened her hand to reveal that it had landed on heads up.

"HA! I get her tonight!" Puck quickly disappeared just as Fox picked up the coin to check the other side; she wasn't surprised at all to find that Puck had made both sides of the coin heads. He certainly was a trickster. She sighed, _"Mother, I'm starting to think that you just wanted another trickster out of your hair!"_

Puck appeared in the Xanatos' bedroom and floated over to a white bassinet. He pulled the sheer pink curtains back to reveal tiny Xeenia laying on her back; she was dressed in a light pink onesie with a blanket patterned with bunnies and moons wrapped around her. She was looking at the baby monitor next to her before she noticed Puck, who leaned over and scooped her up in his arms.

"We don't have much time, lil' Xee, because you need as much sleep as possible. Our first lesson is going to be just an introductory.

With that, Puck disappeared.

Over the years, rambunctious Xeenia took up to both Puck and Coyote, much to her mother's dismay.

When Xeenia graduated elementary school, Fox discussed with David and her mother about sending her to a boarding school. Titania wasn't too keen about the idea, but agreed to it, since she could see her daughter's point. Titania did want Xeenia to be around both tricksters to broaden her personality and for other reasons, but being around them too much could be a bad thing. They agreed that Xeenia would just have to have longer lessons so she could catch up on what she missed while she was in school during her summer vacation.

Year 2016

"Mom, everything's packed!" 16-year-old Xeenia struggled to pull her two huge suitcases and a duffle bag slung over her left shoulder. She dropped them, "Ow, my arms! I wish mom would let me use magic any time I want! Instead of during my lessons…" Xeenia smirked, "But what she doesn't know won't hurt me." Xeenia snapped her fingers and her luggage levitated a couple of inches off the ground and she continued to the elevator, to meet both her parents, Alex, Owen, and Coyote. She was off to Léman Manhattan Preparatory School, a private high school where students lived on campus, much like college students. She hated going to boarding schools, but her mother was very adamant about it. She lectured about how Xeenia should be extremely focused on her education, instead of going to a normal high school where she could get into drugs and underage sex and become boy-crazy. Xeenia had rolled her eyes many times during her mother's lectures. What her mother didn't realize was that those things are going to be everywhere people go, she can't avoid it. If her mother knew some of the things Xeenia had done, she would lock her up. Xeenia was still a virgin, but she had done a enough oral sex to lose her naiveness. She had tried drugs once, but they didn't affect her, so she didn't care for it. She was very focused on her school work, but she would also like to hang out more with Puck and Coyote and have fun and live a carefree life; they were a couple of the most fun people she had ever met.

Before Xeenia turned the next corner, Owen came around it and stopped her, "You know your mother would have a fit if she caught you using magic outside your lessons."

Xeenia's luggage fell to the floor and she crossed her arms, looking away defiantly in the process. "Hmph! Just because _she_ can't use magic doesn't mean I'm not allowed to! It isn't fair!"

Owen picked up her luggage for her and headed to the elevator, "Now, Xee, she only wants you to learn human values and humility before you start using your magic regularly, you know that." Xee had heard all this before, and she had heard of how a lot of Fey were pretty pompous and thought they were better than humans just because they could use magic and they were immortal (well, to an extent.)

They arrived at the elevator and Fox looked over her petite daughter to make sure she was dressed descently. Xeenia had a small frame and she was very short for someone her age (only five foot!) In her human disguise, she had long, dark brown hair like her father's, and wore a red t-shirt that read "Just do it" and light blue jean shorts. She had a small chest and wasn't very curvy, since she was still fairly young. Her eyes, no matter if she was in her human disguise or in her true form, were a sky blue, as was very common amongst Fey.

Xeenia looked up at her older brother, Alexander ("Alex") Xanatos. He was six years older than her and he was engaged to a human named Alice, who was pregnant with their first child. Xeenia didn't like Alice much, and she was grateful that her soon-to-be sister-in-law was at work. Alex had grown to be as tall as his father, but he had orange-red hair like his mother. He had inherited her green eyes and had a tattoo of a Fox head over his right eye like his mother. He was a true mama's boy.

The ride to the school was interesting, as always. The Xanatos family sat in the back seat while Owen and Coyote sat in the front. Her parents had made a decision for the two tricksters to always sit in the front because her mother was paranoid that if they spent too much time with Xeenia then they would develop feelings for her and do something that would force either Fox or David or both to want to turn them into stone for an eternity. Or castrate them or whatever.

"I told you, it's my turn to drive! You drove Xeenia to school last year!" Coyote exclaimed.

Owen stopped at a stop light and looked over at Coyote, "I have seniority in this job."

"Well, then I'll just be a better Owen than you and move up faster than you did."

"Don't even try to play that game with me." Both men glared at one another; the light turned green and Owen pressed on the gas.

Xeenia giggled at the two. They were always fighting, and usually over the silliest things!

They pulled up to her school and Xeenia grudgingly stepped out of the limo. She hated boarding school; it felt like jail to her! Owen and Coyote picked up her luggage out of the trunk, arguing over who got to carry what.

After finally making it up to her room, she said her goodbyes to her parents; after they left the room, and making sure no one else was in there, Owen turned into Puck. "Oh, Xee! I'm going to miss you! Other than myself, you're the most interesting Fey on the planet!" Xeenia giggled at Puck's overly dramatic exclamation.

"I'll be missing you too, kid. I do every year!" Coyote bent down and hugged her.

After almost a minute of awkwardly staying like that, Puck pushed on Coyote, "Ok, ok, that's long enough! It's getting creepy!"

Coyote stood and, before leaving the room, turned to look at Xeenia, "See ya at Christmas!"

"Bye, Coyote!"

After Coyote left the room, Puck stood in front of Xeenia with his hands on his hips, "What a pervert! Doesn't he know how to treat a lady?"

"I don't think even you know how to treat a lady." Xeenia said with a neutral expression.

Puck laughed nervously, "Uh, yeah. I haven't had much luck with them." He quickly flew over to her and wrapped his arms around her, "Can't wait til you come home! I have a strange feeling things are going to be interesting this year." Xeenia blushed; something about the way he said that struck a new chord within her, but she couldn't explain the feeling. Puck sprung away from her quickly, "Welp, see ya!" He disappeared quickly, leaving Xeenia that familiar feeling of being alone and bored.

" _There has to be more to life than this. I don't want to grow up to control a company like dad; I want to have fun!"_ Xeenia jumped into one of the beds in her room. _"Come on, school year. Get started so I can get it over with."_


	2. School and a Christmas Party

A/N: Sorry if this seems to be moving so fast. Apparently, that's just the why I write. I've tried slowing down, but the way I think is more of like how TV shows are written; I think my writing style matches the fast pace of the Gargoyles TV series. When I was younger, I used to use "one idea per chapter" and I had so many things I wanted to get to later on in the story that I would rush my story. I've gotten better at that part. I know the general direction I want this story to go in, but now that I'm older and I've seen that the world isn't so black and white, it's easier for me to take my time and develop my characters and describe details (like the room they're in, etc.) And instead of using one idea per chapter, I'm using two, and plus making more up as I go along. And anything I make up as I write, I copy+paste it in another document (if it's something that looks like I can build on) and I label it and date it. I love Xee and so I'm going to try my best to keep this story going and finish it, unlike my previous stories. (And Xee is unlike any other character I've ever created, so this will definitely be interesting.) Hope you guys enjoy! :)

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Life Used to be So Simple

Chapter 2: School Life and a Christmas Party

Xeenia stood on a ladder to clean a lamp high on the wall. Her school's rules were that if students weren't studying, eating, sleeping, or participating in classes, then they had to clean the school. Her school borrowed the idea that the Japanese schools had - instead if employing janitors, teach the students responsibility and work ethics at a young age. Xeenia had a suspicion that her school was really just being cheap and that the responsibility thing was just an excuse.

"Hey, Warrior Princess! Time for dinner!" A tall human girl with short black hair shouted, using one of the many nicknames she had given Xeenia, the most recent one inspired by the old TV series "Xena: Warrior Princess". Xeenia inspected her work before she looked down at her goofy friend and stuck her tongue at her.

Xeenia got an idea and grinned mischievously. Her friend, Lindsey, dropped her teasing expression; Xeenia was up to something. From almost the top of the eight foot ladder, Xeenia bent her knees and kicked off, plummeting to the floor. "Xeenia!" Lindsey screamed in horror as she ran to try to catch her crazy friend; but Xeenia used her magic to slow down her fall. She landed on both feet and raised up her arms and threw her head back; you could almost hear the "ta-da" trumpets playing as she did that.

"Xeenia, you're going to kill me yet! You almost gave me a heart attack!" Lindsey yelled as she play-punched Xeenia on the arm. She calmed down and folded her arms, "How did you slow down and land so perfectly, anyway?"

Xeenia giggled and said, "I'm just that good!"

"You'll never cease to amaze me…"

At dinner, All the students sat at one, long shiny oak table. Down the middle of the table was a long maroon tablerunner with gold thread embroidered at the edges. Four chandeliers hung from the ceiling, its light bulbs shaped like teardrops. While Xeenia grew up around fancy things, this felt a bit too much for her.

It was the same old routine. Every-single-day; and she was growing increasingly bored and tired of these stone-faced people. Xeenia caught Lindsey's eyes from across the table, who mouthed "what's wrong?" Xeenia exhaled deeply and mouthed back "I'm bored." Lindsey stifled a giggle; Xeenia was easily bored. She could swear her small friend had ADHD.

Xeenia had finished dinner first; making sure no one was looking, she disappeared. Lindsey looked up from her plate and nearly choked on the food sliding down her throat when she noticed Xeenia wasn't in her seat. _"This isn't good."_ Lindsey thought as she looked over at the school's ugly, graying headmistress. Their headmistress was very strict; anything out of the ordinary was frowned upon, and anyone doing anything that didn't fit in with the school's policies was punished or expelled. Xeenia had gotten in trouble a few times already that year, and the school year was only almost halfway over. The headmistress had punished her each time, by making her do more chores; but today, she wasn't in a very good mood. She had just punished a freshman for spilling her drink.

Xeenia hid behind a statue of a lion and peeked around the corner. She grinned and raised her hands up, a few inches in front of her face, and put her two pointer fingers together and her two thumbs together to form a triangle; she looked at her headmistress, Ms. Grey, as if she were pretending to look through a camera lens. _"This'll spice things up and give the place more color!"_ She said an incantation in broken Latin (it was a hard language to learn!) Ms. Grey suddenly poofed in white smoke, and once the smoke cleared, nothing about her had changed - except for her hair. She now had the colorful, afro-like hairstyle of a clown.

The other students stared in fear, "Alright now, what was that and who did it?! Why are you all staring at me like that?!" Ms. Grey spat.

The student closest to her, an uppity snob with long blonde hair, pointed over to the statue of the lion that Xeenia thought she was well-hidden behind, "Xeenia did it! She must have planted a smoke bomb on you! I watched her run and hide behind the statue and pretend she was using a camera, and then that happened! And look at your hair!" The girl, Rachel, pulled out a compact from her pocket and handed it to Ms. Grey, who opened it and stared in horror in the mirror at her new hairdo.

She snapped it shut and turned to the statue, where she could see a piece of the school uniform coming from behind it, "XEENIA! THIS IS THE LAST STRAW!" She slowly got up from her chair, bones crackling and popping as she did so, and wobbled over to the statue to find a guilty-looking Xeenia sitting on the floor behind it. "YOU'RE EXPELLED! I'm calling your parents NOW!"

Xeenia's face was now white as a ghost; she could only imagine what her mother would do to her. She hadn't meant for it to go like this; she just wanted to have some fun and brighten the place up! Ms. Grey grabbed Xeenia's arm and wrenched one of the big doors open and dragged Xeenia through it and all the way to her office.

Ms. Grey pushed Xeenia into one of the recliners in front of her desk before walking around it, putting her deskphone on speaker and pounding the keys to her father's personal cell number. "Hello?" Came the sound of her father's voice.

"Mr. Xanatos, I'm sorry for interrupting you, but there's been a mishap."

"What happened?" David's voice raised a bit, concerned.

"I have been having a problem with your daughter ever since she started school here, and she only seems to be getting worse. Now, I've been keeping quiet about this since you're such a renowned man and I didn't want to garnish your reputation, but it's becoming too much for me! Today, she threw a smoke bomb at me that permanently destroyed my hair! She is completely disrespectful and and she is always tormenting the other students! Now don't get me wrong, she's a fantastic student, but she finishes before anyone else and sits there for the rest of the class bored, and coming up with more schemes, no doubt!" Ms. Grey caught her breath before saying, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to expel her. She is too much of a bad influence to keep her here."

" _She must have been holding that in since I started here!"_ Xeenia thought, amused. _"But some of she said was so untrue...she_ CAN _wash that color out of her hair!"_ Xeenia pulled her legs up into the chair, wrapped her arms around them, and put her chin on them as she boredly watched her headmistress dramatically talk to her father.

Over the speaker, in the background, Xeenia heard to other mean quite clearly, which meant her father had his cell on speaker too. One of the men, who she knew was Coyote, was laughing, and, even though she could barely hear him, she could hear Owen chuckling too. Her father's voice came back over the phone, "I'll be sending two of my employees to pick her up. They'll be there in an hour."

"Thank you, Mr. Xanatos." Ms. Grey pressed a button to turn off the speaker and turned to Xeenia, "You're lucky Christmas Vacation starts in a couple of days, so this won't hurt your schooling one bit. But you'll have to find another school before January. Now get upstairs and pack your things!"

Xeenia puffed out her cheeks in a pout before she vanished into thin air. Ms. Grey's eyes bugged out as she pulled off her glasses, cleaned them, and then put them back on her face, staring in disbelief at the recliner Xeenia was just sitting in.

Xeenia appeared in her room and snapped her fingers. All of her belongings zoomed around the room and neatly placed themselves in her suitcases and duffle bag. _"I don't care what mom says, she's not here so she can't see me use my magic. I just want to hurry and get out of this hell-hole!"_

True to her father's word, a long, black limo pulled up to the school an hour later. _"Owen likes to be precise, doesn't he?"_ Xeenia thought as she watched Owen and Coyote, who refused to wear a suit, even though he worked for her father, walk up to the front door. A couple of minutes later, she heard her headmistress call her name out over the intercom. Sighing, and still fearing seeing her mother that night, Xeenia vanished, along with her belongings, and reappeared next to the headmistress at the front door, who jumped and yelled I'm surprise. "How did you come down so fast?!"

Xeenia stomped as hard as she could on Ms. Grey's right foot; she yelled in pain, "Why you…! I'm glad you'll _never_ be coming back to this school!" She turned to Owen and Coyote, "Please send Mr. Xanatos my apologies. I'm afraid I just can't handle his wild child!"

Owen and Coyote each picked up her suitcases and duffle bag and Coyote turned to Ms. Grey, "I think she's a wonderful, free spirited kid; thanks for allowing her to come home early. We've missed her!" The door shut behind them as they headed to the limo, "Don't worry 'Wild Child', I've softened the blow for you; your mom is furious but she should be calmed down by the time you get home." Coyote smiled, causing a new feeling to jolt through Xeenia's body. She looked away, confused; but as she did so, she caught sight of Owen on the other side of her and for a second, he seemed transparent and she could see Puck in his place. A stronger jolt ran through her. Her face reddened and her heart sped up, _"_ What _is going on with me?!"_

Owen held the door open and she climed into the limo. Coyote ran around the limo and got into the driver's seat, "Ha! I get to drive her!" He exclaimed in triumph.

Owen raised an eyebrow, "Then I'll be keeping Xeenia company." He climbed into the limo and sat across from Xeenia. Coyote growled low in his throat like the animal. Owen smirked at Coyote, but then focused on Xeenia with an amused spark in his eye. "You're becoming quite a prankster."

"Well, not really. I just wanted to liven the place up. Everything and everyone is so dull and boring there! It was getting depressing…"

Xeenia looked down at her hands in her lap.

"I know what you mean." Owen's expression became serious, "But you can't go around showing your magic in front of others. That can be very dangerous."

"How? It's not like they can hurt me. I can just teleport away from them or freeze them or something!"

"Take my word for it: it's dangerous! There are some humans, and non-humans, out there that hunt the Third Race. Not to mention it's against Oberon's law to not interfere with human affairs." His expression softened, "We just don't want you to get hurt."

Xeenia wanted to talk back, but she new he was right. Actually, just a year ago, a gang of masked humans had attacked her and Alex at a park in downtown Manhattan, calling themselves "Fairy Hunters". A battle ensued and Alex was shot with a dart full of some kind of gray liquid. It caused him great pain and Xeenia could smell flesh burning. She had been scared, frozen to the spot. But luckily, Puck, Coyote, and her father in his Gargoyle armor, showed up and took down the small gang. They hadn't heard or seen anything of that gang since that incident, so Xeenia figured they disbanded.

They arrived at the Eyrie Building and Coyote opened the limo door for Xeenia and Owen. They headed up to the top of the building - where their residence was. Xeenia's tummy was in knots; even though her mother couldn't use magic, she was still afraid of making her mad.

When the elevator doors opened, both of her parents were there waiting for them. "Mom…"

"Don't "mom" me! You were just kicked out of one of the most prestigious schools in Manhattan! Now I'll have to send you to a school farther away from home and _hope_ that what happened at this one doesn't get around! Because then NO school will accept you!" She finished her rant with, "Why can't you just be a model student like your brother was?"

Tears came to her eyes and she teleported to her room. Owen turned to Fox, "That was a little too harsh, Mrs. Xanatos." Owen walked off, heading to Xeenia's room.

Coyote sighed before stating, "I have one more lesson to do with Alex before he's finished with them. If he wants to learn something else in the future, his Latin skills will come in handy." Coyote vanished, leaving the Xanatos parents alone.

"I think Owen's right, Fox. That was a little too harsh."

"David, I just want her to be the best she can be. I want her to leave a successful life, and she isn't going to do that if she's going to be kicked out of schools and goofing off!"

David sighed and put his arm around Fox's waist, "She's her own person. I've heard nothing but good things about her studies in school; we can't keep comparing her to Alex, or she'll start rebelling and looking for someone who _will_ accept her for who she is."

"David, she's turning out to be so much like the tricksters…" The two walked into their warm family room. A fireplace lit up the room and created a comforting atmosphere; the two Xanatoses walked over to the sofa and cuddled up together on it.

"You know, I have a strange feeling that there's a reason for that."

A knock sounded on Xeenia's door, "I don't want to talk!" She yelled as she magically locked the door. The door unlocked and Owen stepped in. "Owen…" She said in surprise; he normally tried to stay out of family affairs. Xeenia brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them; more tears slid down her cheeks. "What's wrong with me? I know I'm a Fey and I'm the freak in the family...I don't even act normal. I try to be like everyone else, but I just get so bored. I just want to have a fun time and I want to make people laugh; I like to see people smile…" She rubbed her eye and sniffled as Owen sat on her bed next to her. "Even if I was human, I still wouldn't fit in…"

"What I like about you, Xee, is that you're not like everyone else. Instead of trying to be what others want you to be, just rebel; ignore them and be yourself. Out of a family of proper, fancy, rich people, you are one of a kind. You're fun, sweet, mischievous, and you always want to learn something new."

Xeenia's cheeks burned red and she looked up at Owen, realizing for the first time how good-looking he was. But she felt like it wasn't _his_ appearance she was noticing, yet it was. She had a feeling that if Owen wasn't Puck then she wouldn't have thought him good looking. _"Something about me is definitely changing."_

A few days later, caterers and decorators ran throughout the huge dining room (it was big enough to hold hundreds of people); it was the day of the Christmas party Xeenia's parents liked to throw every year. She stood outside the room watching the decorators hang up mistletoe in the doorways and banners and reefs on the walls. The tall medieval style windows had fake frost on the inside and actual snow sitting on the ledges and sticking to the panes on the outside. Snow fell gently, blanketing the castle and the city below even more.

Xeenia loved this time of the year; it was just so peaceful and it seemed as if the snow deafened most of the noises of the city. Everyone had a joyous attitude and we're very pleasant to one another. Even though Xeenia didn't believe in God or Jesus (or any religion for that matter), she still believed this time of the year was miraculous; it seemed to have its own magic in the air.

"Granddaughter." A familiar voice said behind her.

Xeenia spun around and hugged her grandmother, Titania, who was currently disguised as Anastasia Renard, "Grandma! I haven't seen you in ages!" She pulled away as Coyote walked up.

"So Alex is finished with his lessons, can I go back to Avalon now? I'm sure Puck can handle Xeenia by himself."

"Actually, I need to speak to you and Puck. Alone." She turned to Xeenia, "And I'll be putting up spells so you can't listen in or sneak in. Just go help your parents get the party set up."

Xeenia puffed out her cheeks and groaned. "Alright…" She turned entered the room and began searching for her parents.

"She still has a little growing up to do, and this coming year is the year for it." Coyote looked at his queen quizzically. "Once we find Owen, I'll explain."

They found Owen in the kitchen, checking out the food to make sure it all looked perfect. Sensing someone watching him, he looked up to see Coyote and Anastasia in the doorway. Walking around the caterers, he stopped in front of them. "Did you need something, my Lady?"

"I need to speak to you both." They stepped away from the doorway where they couldn't be seen and Anastasia teleported them to one of the spare rooms in the castle. Anastasia turned into Titania and she placed a couple of spells throughout the room to make sure that a certain Xanatos didn't try to invisibly pop in.

Owen turned into a floating Puck, who laid back in the air with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed. "What's so important that you have to put up spells to keep people out?"

Titania smiled knowingly, held out her hands, palms facing upward, and summoned a foggy crystal ball into her hands and both trickster's eyes widened. "Is that a fate crystal?" Coyote asked, knowing full well it was, but he couldn't believe that she was showing it to them.

"Yes, this is Xeenia's." Both tricksters stayed quiet and impatiently waited; whenever Titania brought out a fate crystal, it usually meant someone was going to find out who their soul-mate was. "Xeenia is a rare case. While any other Fey meets one of their three potential soul-mates over time, Xeenia has two out of three of her potential soul-mates existing at the same time." She paused and looked at them seriously, "That would be you two. Both of you are only potential soul-mates; you two must fairly make her fall in love with you. Whoever she decides to be with will be her soul-mate. But," her tone became firmer, "Do not use magic or trickery to gain an advantage. That _is_ how the two of you lost your first two chances." Both Puck and Coyote looked at one another guiltily, and then back to Titania.

Titania continued, "She is the _last chance_ at a soul-mate for each of you. When she chooses one of you, the other will be alone for an eternity; except for the occasional ordinary relationship, but they will never last. Just remember, if both of you mess up this last chance, she will always have her third chance later on in life, but the two if you will be alone forever." After she finished her slightly grim message, Titania released the spells on the room and changed back into Anastasia. "Now, let's get back. The party will be starting soon."

The two nodded, but waited til she left the room. Coyote turned to Puck and pointed his thumb at himself, "She'll be mine, for sure. No one can resist this suave face!"

Puck glared at him, "We'll see about that. This is a fair game now. We each have a chance to be with her. Whoever screws it up ends up alone for the rest of their life. I'm just going to be myself; if she's truly my potential soul-mate, then that shouldn't bother her." Puck added in his head, _"You, on the other hand, can't be honest if you tried!"_

Coyote chuckled, "I'm going to go see her. Bye!" He waved his finger and the next thing Puck knew, his legs were stuck in a block of cement.

" _You're already starting off on the wrong foot, Coyote!"_

The party had already started by the time Coyote arrived; this time dressed in a tux. He spotted Xeenia across the room with her parents, who chatted with another couple who had their son with them. Their son seemed to be the same age as Xeenia; he had slicked back dirt blonde hair and brown eyes. He wore a tux like most of the men in the room.

Xeenia's hair was twisted up into an elegant ponytail, with strands of hair dangling from each side of her face. Her dress, picked out by her mother, was a festive red and green, with embroidered gold patterns of swirly lines on it. She looked positively bored. And the other couple's son talking to her only seemed to add to her boredom. Coyote grinned, _"She sure is adorable! I should probably rescue her."_ As he walked over to the two families, he called out, "Hey, Wild Child! Do you mind helping me for a second?"

Xeenia brightened up to see her rescuer, "Sure!" She ran off faster than her mother could stop her for being so rude. "What is it?"

Coyote took her hand, "I want to show you something." He dragged her through the crowds of people and to the other side of the room; he stopped under the doorway to the room.

Confused, Xeenia asked, "What was you wanting to show me?"

Before Coyote could respond, Owen stopped behind Xeenia, glaring at Coyote. "Coyote, you won't get away with that…"

Coyote feigned innocence, "With what? Where have you been, anyway?"

Owen gave him a cold look, "You know what I mean…" He glared at Coyote, who glared back.

"Hey, Xeenia's been caught under her first mistletoe!" Someone from the crowd yelled.

All three suddenly remembered that there was a crowd of people in the room, but now everyone was watching them. Fox's face was white and David's expression was unreadable. Alex, who was with his very pregnant fiance a few feet away from his parents, raised his eyebrow. Alice, his fiance, smirked.

Xeenia's face burned; sure, she had been intimate with people before, but they were schoolmates - she didn't feel anything for them. On the other hand, these two men, on each side of her, meant something to her. They had been there for her, teaching her and even at times, guiding her, her entire life. She felt as if she was meant to be with them, and that they were meant to introduce a whole new world to her. She had an unidentifiable relationship with each of them that she hadn't had with anyone be caught under a mistletoe with both of them, and to be kissed by them...butterflies filled her tummy at the thought. This feeling was completely foreign to her.

But here she stood, in front of a crowd of people, underneath a mistletoe with Owen and Coyote. Coyote pulled her close, "Might as well get this over with. They aren't going to stop staring unless we keep the tradition." He pulled her closer and used his pointer finger and index finger to lift her chin up. His lips pressed against hers possessively. Her eyes widened at his boldness, but gave into the kiss. They pulled away and Coyote stated annoyingly, "And now it's _his_ turn."

Owen seemed unsure, _"How can we both be her potential soul-mate? There must be a mistake. I'm not in love with her; she seems more like an adopted niece than anything."_ He leaned down anyway, to keep tradition, and raised her chin up like Coyote did; he pressed his lips to hers firmly, but softly.

Xeenia felt a slight jolt course through her body; she was surprised by how warm and soft his lips were; she was sure they would be cold and coarse, to fit his personality as Owen. _"What's going on with me?"_ She thought as he pulled away, her face pink.

"Ok, that's enough for tonight." Fox said as she and Anastasia walked up to them. "It's so late, I think it's time for you to go to bed. It's Christmas morning tomorrow."

Xeenia, who normally would have put on her pout face and demand that she stay up like everyone else, just nodded with a confused expression. "Yeah, I think I'm tired." Xeenia turned to head to her room, but not before glancing back at Owen and Coyote.

As she lay in bed that night, she couldn't help but think, _"Something's going to happen, isn't it?"_


	3. Christmas Day and New Years

A/N: Sorry if this chapter seems so...strange...I actually had a bit of trouble writing it. This is the first time I've gotten this far in a story and I hit a few bumps. I tried my best, though. Hope you guys like it! (Someday I plan on re-writing parts of this story, but I'd like to get farther with it first.)

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Life Used to be So Simple

Chapter 3: Christmas Day and New Years

Xeenia woke up to a chilly Christmas morning; snow fell heavily outside and she watched it until her eyes hurt from all the bright white. She rubbed her eyes, pulled back her blanket, and swung her feet over her bed and right into her fuzzy slippers.

Walking by her full length mirror, Xeenia stopped and made a face at her boring human disguise. "Sorry mom, but I'm home and we don't have visitors; I want to be myself!" In a flash of green light, a Fey with the same petite body frame as her human form now stood in front of the mirror. Her orange-pink hair reached just past her shoulders and her long, elfish ears were thinner than Puck's and slightly smaller. She had changed her clothes when she changed forms, and now she wore a small velvety red Christmas jacket (more for fashion than keeping her warm) over a thick black turtleneck shirt. A fuzzy white fabric lined the outer edges at the end of her sleeves and at the collar; three white puff-balls lined one side of her jacket where buttons would normally go. As for her bottom half, she wore red shorts made in the same fashion that her jacket was, and wore thick black leggings under them. She sported red shoes to match the outfit. She had seen the outfit on the internet and thought it was so cute; she just had to try it out!

Xeenia teleported to the family room and, much to her surprise, saw that Puck wasn't Owen. He sat in the air with his legs crossed and watched Alex, who sat on the sofa with Alice, rub her protruding belly, cooing over how big their son is getting, "That's unusual for you!" Xeenia said, startling Puck.

Puck looked her up and down before replying with, "Mm, yeah, I just wanted a change-up. Even I need a break from being someone I'm not!"

Xeenia floated up to him to sit in the air next to him, while he glanced back over to her brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law and then looked away again, "Something seems to be on your mind."

Puck sighed, "No, not really. It's something that's bugged me off and on for the past millennia. It can't be helped."

"You can tell me."

Puck looked at her, and noticed, it seemed for the first time, how her eyes sparkled; _"She seems so innocent, yet...I feel as though she has a side that she's never shown anyone…"_ He felt blood rush to his face before he regained composure, "No, I can't. Not now anyway."

Coyote, Fox, and David entered the room and Coyote looked up at the other two Fey, "Hey, Wild Child! Are you going to open your gifts?"

Xeenia knew that she would probably just be getting clothes again, but for the sake of her parents, flew over to their eight-foot-tall Christmas tree. There were only a few gifts for her, since she was a Fey and could just create things using magic if she wanted to, but her parents didn't want to leave her out. Alex took gifts over to Alice and they opened theirs together on the sofa. Puck and Coyote only had a couple of gifts each and had begun to open them. Just as she thought, Xeenia had received all clothes from her parents, and a bracelet from both Alex and Alice. She picked up the one from Puck and tore it open. Inside, was a ring with a stone in it that reminded her of a mood stone, but instead, it was swirling. _"I'll have to ask Puck what this is later."_ She slid it on her ring finger on her right hand and admired it. The next one, from Coyote, was a gold anklet with a dreamcatcher in the middle; a tiny feather was on each side of it, engraved in the gold.

Puck opened his last gift, from Xeenia. It was a simple little brooch with a symbol that looked like an eight laying on its side on it. _"Eternity…"_ That was what the symbol meant. He rubbed it with his thumb, _"This was made with magic and she's infused magic into it! She has come a long way in her studies!"_ He blushed slightly, realizing that he meant enough to her for her to go through the trouble of making such a difficult item; he took off the brooch he had on his toga and replaced it with the one she gave him and smiled at the thought of her putting so much effort into it for him.

Coyote opened his gift from Xeenia and smiled with an amused expression. She had given him a small hand-stitched doll. An idea came to mind, _"But I'll wait until it's necessary…"_ He stuffed the small doll in a pocket on the inside of his jacket and walked over to Xeenia, just as Puck flew to her. Coyote quickly stepped in front of Puck, who halted and was barely able to stop from crashing into Coyote. "Xeenia, I really liked your gift; it's adorable!" He grinned, _"I don't want to be alone forever, so now's a good time to start wooing her."_ He pulled out the doll and held it to his chest, "I'll always treasure it, and whenever I go to bed, I'll sleep with it and," he lowered his voice, "it'll remind me of you." He winked at her and Xeenia's face turned scarlet, her heart seemed to have jumped in her throat.

"Alright now, out of the way!" Puck pushed Coyote aside, who smirked and stood a few feet away from them. Puck turned to Xeenia, "When did you learn to make something as intricate as this? I've never taught you that."

Xeenia smiled, "I found an old book in the library; it was written in Latin. Dad helped me read it, since my Latin skills aren't very good. He wouldn't let me try any of the spells in the book except for this one. He read to me that the spell that was used to make that brooch was supposed to bring good luck to whoever wears it. I don't believe in luck, but I liked the drawing of the brooch in the book and thought it fit you."

"Hey, Wild Child!" Coyote pulled Xeenia away and smirked at Puck, "Follow me!" He pulled on her hand and didn't let go; Xeenia didn't have a choice but to follow him.

Puck began to chase after them, but he flew into an invisible wall. He rubbed his nose and growled low in his throat. _"Dammit, Coyote!"_

At the top of the castle, Coyote pulled Xeenia outside. "You know, we could have just teleported out here." Xeenia stated matter-of-factly.

Coyote blushed slightly and chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I was too in the moment; I wasn't thinking." Xeenia raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. "It's really pretty out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is." Coyote moved closer to her, wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close. Xeenia stared up at him, wide-eyed. _"He's acting so weird!"_

"You know, Xeenia, I know this is going to sound strange, but I really li…" A giant ball of snow hit him in the head and he fell face first into the snow. He heard Xeenia laughing and turned to see her floating in the air and holding her sides as she laughed.

"Got you good!" She pointed teasingly at him. She flew higher in the air and turned to him, "Bet you can't get me!" She teased, referring to the snowball fight she started.

" _Come on, Xeenia, can't you be serious?"_ He remembered what she said, _"So, it's a game. I'll definitely get you!"_ He smirked as he flew up to her.

Xeenia saw the look of determination written all over his face and raced away, _"He looks like he's taking this seriously!"_ She knew, that with him being older and so much more experienced, that he could easily catch her or trap her. _"Why isn't he doing that, though? Knowing him, he would have used magic to catch me or something by now…"_

Coyote's eyes sparked green for a split second, completely missed by his prey. The wind picked up, making it almost impossible to fly. It pushed Xeenia against the path that she was taking. "Coyote! Where are you?!" She looked around desperately; there was so much snow blowing around her that she couldn't see anything.

" _I'm so...so...cold…"_ Even the magic that protected her body from the weather wasn't helping a bit. She felt as if her brain was freezing along with her body. She sniffled and curled up into a ball as they wind was finally able to push her to the ground. She hit concrete and blacked out.

 _Xeenia's mind was blurry. She stood for a while in the pitch black darkness that surrounded her. She knew she was dreaming; lucid dreams weren't a foreign thing to her._

 _Suddenly, memories of all they boys she had ever been with since she turned 16 swarmed around her; she had tricked them into thinking she was interested in them. But the truth was, that her body had started changing and she didn't know how to deal with it. She used them for oral sex. She had never let anyone penetrate her, because she felt that she was supposed to save that for someone special._

 _But, there were memories that weren't her own. Some of the memories were those boys' own memories. "How can I be seeing_ their _memories?" They were hurt. After they had realized she had used them, they had either gone home and cried, or began developing a hatred for women that would most likely last for the rest of their lives and possibly ruin future relationships._

 _Tears welled up in her eyes; for the first time, she felt the weight of her actions on her shoulders. Those boys' feelings - anger, hatred, sadness, confusion - coursed through her body. The sounds of all her memories and their memories seemed to merge together and it filled her head. She put her hands to her ears, fell to her knees, and hunched over. "Stop. Stop. PLEASE STOP. I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I HURT YOU POOR GUYS SO MUCH! I'M SORRY!" Tears streamed down her cheeks as the voices finally died down and the imaged of her memories and the boys' memories vanished. She sniffled and finally cried her heart out._

" _I'm such a horrible person...How could I do that to them? I only thought of myself…" Her surroundings changed again, surprising her; she looked up to see two paths; one led to Puck, and the other led to Coyote. "I'm confused, what does this mean…?"_

" _Xeenia!" Startled, she jumped up and wildly looked around. The Puck or Coyote in her dream didn't call her, so she knew it must have been someone outside her dream. "I have to wake up!" The Puck and Coyote in her dream vanished as she focused on safely getting out of her dream. Lucid dreaming was pretty safe, if you were a beginner; but Xeenia was an expert at it and her dreams could become very complicated; she could even allow her spirit to wander around outside her body for a limited time if she wished. The more complicated a lucid dream is, the more one has to worry about safety. If she didn't safely leave her dream, she could leave herself open to all sorts of mental attacks - whether it be by magic, spiritually, or natural psychology._

Xeenia's eyes fluttered open, and the first person she saw was Coyote leaning over her, his face tensed up with worry. _"His eyes...they're naturally blue! I can see specks of blue behind the brown!"_ She blushed as she realized what she was doing, _"Childhood is over, isn't it?"_

"I'm so glad you woke up! I was afraid you wouldn't!" He pulled her into a tight hug; her cheeks reddened more as she felt his warm body against hers; she could feel her heart racing. He pulled away, "Since you're under age twenty, you aren't immortal yet...I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you!" For a split second, he had a guilty look on his face, but it quickly vanished.

Xeenia noticed other people in the room out of the corner of her eye; both her parents and Puck were in the room with them. Her face burned and she quickly let go of Coyote, who also seemed to have forgotten they were in the room, too. Puck glared at Coyote, "Can I speak to you?"

Coyote smirked and rose up off the bed, "Yeah, I guess." The two tricksters vanished from the room and her mother and father ran over to her.

Fox sat on the bed next to her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug, "Oh, sweetie! I was so scared! I thought we were going to lose you!"

Xeenia pulled away a little, "Was it that bad?"

David stood next to her and replied, "You were blue when Coyote brought you back. He said that you two were throwing snowballs at each other in the air when that blizzard all of a sudden came up and caught you both off guard. He was able to create a shield around himself, and he said he thought you knew how to do that and he wasn't that worried. He spent hours looking for you, Xeenia. When he found you, you were on top of a skyscraper, covered in snow. The only way he was able to find you was by sensing your magic. If you weren't a Fey, he wouldn't have found you at all!"

Fox continued from there, "I have never seen that man so distraught! He brought you home and both he and Puck tried every warming and healing spell they knew to save your life. You've been unconscious for two days." Her mother now looked relieved, "When Coyote saw you moving, he called us in here and we called to you until you woke up." She smiled and hugged Xeenia again.

Xeenia stared in horror at her mother's story; she couldn't believe all that had happened. She had actually almost forgotten about the blizzard coming out of nowhere and sending her plummeting to the ground. _"Coyote...I feel as though I've seen you for the first time…"_ Her heart raced as she thought of him.

Coyote was slammed against the stone wall of the Wyvern castle; Puck's eyes were green and he was clearly not happy. "I know what you did! I wanted to wait until I knew Xee was going to be ok before I worried about beating the living daylight out of you!" Puck's hands glowed and Coyote knew he was serious; his own hands began to glow as well.

"I was just 'being myself'. If she's 'truly meant for me, then she'll like me for who I am'." Coyote quoted what Puck had said a few days ago. This only seemed to fuel Puck's rage. He shot two balls of energy at Coyote, but he dodged them and made enough clones of himself to fill up the parlor.

" _Shit. And they all look perfectly identical."_ As Puck shot one clone, another appeared. He shot a few more, and a few more appeared. _"If this keeps up, I'll use up all my energy, which is probably his plan."_

"Give up?" All the clones spoke at once.

Puck was far too angered to think clearly, _"I need to worry about Xee, not this imbecile."_ Coyote seemed to know what was going through Puck's mind, because all the clones suddenly disappeared and the original Coyote was nowhere to be found, so Puck assumed he was back in Xeenia's room.

Out of anger, Puck shot an enormous blast of energy into the floor, almost breaking through it. _"I think Titania may be right, after all. When I think of her anymore, I feel adrenaline rush through me. It's so strange. I taught her magic lessons from a baby on up; we were more like close friends, or like an uncle and a niece than anything. And then Titania comes along with Xeenia's fate crystal, and I began looking and thinking about her differently. We're still close, but somehow, not as close as we used to be; and...it's starting to scare me. I don't know what I'll do without her."_

After finally calming down, Puck noticed how big the hole he made was and guiltily waved his hand to magically fix it.

A few days later, the entire Xanatos family plus Owen and Coyote, stood in downtown New York, New York in a huge crowd around a tall pole. It was New Years eve and everyone eagerly waited for the countdown to begin to greet 2017. News teams littered all of downtown and vendors had stands open, selling sparklers, glow sticks, 2017 masks, and all sorts of other New Year stuff.

The blonde-haired boy that Xeenia had met at the Christmas party climbed up onto a mobile stage, and stood in front of a small band that would play once 2017 came around. "Hello, everyone, how're you all doing?" He looked straight at Xeenia with piercing eyes; she felt as though he could see right through her human disguise. He smirked before turning back to the audience, "Alright, everybody! Let's start the countdown!"

A glittering ball that reminded Xeenia of a disco ball, started rising up the pole. Dismissing the strange incident, Xeenia counted from ten along with the rest of the crowd.

As they got down to three, Coyote took Xeenia's hand.

"Two!" The boy on the stage pulled a small red button out of his pocket.

"One! Happy New Year!" Coyote pulled Xeenia to him quickly and crashed his lips onto hers; the ball and the number 2017 above it lit up and confetti was released. Xeenia was now redder than a tomato. She could sense someone watching her and managed to break away from the kiss to see an emotionless Owen watching them. He quickly turned on his heel and walked away. _"I feel like he's kinda mad or something...but why?"_

"Xeenia…" The small Fey disguised as a human, turned to look back at Coyote, "I know this sounds strange, but...I've started to have feelings for you. I'd like to get to know you in a different way." He grabbed her hands and held them both in his hands, "Will you do me the honors of being my girlfriend?"

Her eyes widened; her emotions twisted inside of her and she felt conflicted. _"I guess it won't hurt…"_ Her thoughts wandered back to Owen. Even though he looked emotionless, she could almost see Puck right through him; and Puck definitely showed some emotions. She couldn't tell if it was anger, jealousy, hurt, protective, or a combination of any of them. She thought of a future without Puck, if she were to get out on her own one day and end up with Coyote. _"I would be so lonely...I'm not sure if I can live without either one of them…"_

Xeenia realized that she had spent a couple of minutes in her own thoughts and looked up at Coyote, who watched her expectantly. "I-I'm not sure."

"Please, just give us a chance!" He begged.

" _Maybe he really_ does _have those kind of feelings for me…"_ She blushed before saying, "Alright, I'll be your girlfriend." _"It can't hurt…"_ She repeated to herself; she wanted to believe that, but her stomach twisted in knots from uncertainty.

Coyote grabbed her hand, smiling triumphantly, and pulled her to a nearby fair. Instead of paying to get in, he made them both invisible and they flew in. Xeenia's face lit up; she always loved the fair. It was such a bright, festive, fun place! They dropped behind a tent and walked around to the front, now visible to everyone. Like a kid in a candy store, Xeenia ran from booth to booth, admiring all the sweets, prizes, and trinkets to celebrate 2017. There was a big ferris wheel behind the House of Mirrors, a "test your strength" booth to one side of her, and a "shoot the target" booth on another side of her.

She ran to the booth where one would have to shoot a target and hit it dead center to win a prize. She looked at the prizes while she waited in line and felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Coyote and smiled. Her turn came up and she grabbed a gun, as did Coyote. A tiny green spark in each of his eyes flashed for a split second before she shot her gun; she missed, but tried many more times before losing her confidence in her targeting abilities. _"I must be out of practice...I used to be so good at this!"_

Coyote shot a target and the rubber dart stuck to the center; he smirked and picked out a foot-tall stuffed coyote. He turned to Xeenia, "Thought this would remind you of me whenever I'm not around and you're feeling lonely."

Xeenia took the stuffed animal from him and held it to her chest, "I love it, he's so cute!"

He searched around him for a place where the two of them could have some privacy. He saw that the House of Mirrors didn't have a line and decided to take advantage of it. "Hey, let's go in there!" He pointed to the large tent and Xeenia grinned.

"That looks like it'll be fun!"

They dashed off and Coyote materialized two tickets in his pocket and handed them to the old man standing at the entrance, who allowed them in.

They entered the very dimly lit tent. Tall and short mirrors, some straight and others curved, filled the tent. Xeenia stared in awe; it felt like they were in an abandoned warehouse than a tent. She and Coyote walked into the maze and they giggled and laughed at their reflections and made fun of one another when they would come to a mirror that made them fat or skinny.

Xeenia walked past several mirrors and turned to tell Coyote something, but realized that he was nowhere to be seen. _"Oh great, I lost him!"_ She listened carefully, making sure no humans had entered the tent before changing back to her true form. Before she could fly up above the mirrors to search for Coyote, she felt felt someone watching her. She wildly looked around, but couldn't see anyone. "Coyote! Where are you?"

She flew up, but hit an invisible wall. _"What the…?"_ Now on high alert, she floated back down and landed on her feet. She turned and walked the way that she thought she had come from, but she only seemed to be getting more and more lost.

Panic began to run through her veins, "Where are you, Coyote…?" She said in an almost whisper.

"He's in here, but he's just as lost in this maze as you are." Xeenia recognized the voice and turned to see Puck floating in the air with his legs and arms crossed.

Xeenia was relieved to see him after the incident earlier, but then realization hit,"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Puck asked innocently.

"This is the House of _Mirrors_. I know you couldn't pass up this chance to play a prank on us! I need to find Coyote!"

Puck feigned a pout, "I was just wanting to have a little fun!"

Xeenia's expression softened. She vanished, catching Puck off guard. He sensed a presence behind him and just as he turned, Xeenia pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. She straddled his waist, pinned his arms down, and stuck her tongue at him.

"Xeenia, what are you doing?!" The two turned to see that Coyote finally found Xeenia. "Have you already forgotten that _I'm_ your boyfriend now?!"

Xeenia blushed and floated into the air, allowing Puck to do so as well. "So...you two are courting now…?" Puck asked awkwardly. He had seen them kiss, so he had figured Coyote would do something like that. _"While he's been acting like a wild animal going after his prey, I've just been a sitting duck! I had to take a shot at her…even though it wasn't much."_

"Puck, that's such an old word. We call it "going out" now." Xeenia corrected. "And yes, we are. I thought I'd give it a shot. I've never had a serious boyfriend before."

Coyote looked taken aback by how casually she said that. _"'Give it a shot?' You don't seem serious at all, Wild Child."_

Puck smirked, "Well when you get tired of him, try me out. I'm way more fun!" Xeenia's cheeks reddened as Coyote walked up to her and said,

"Come on, Wild Child. You're mom texted me a few minutes ago saying that it's time to go home."

"Fine…" Xeenia looked back at Puck and smiled mischievously; he raised an eyebrow at her.

They teleported to the Xanatos' limo; Puck, who was now Owen, opened the doors for everyone before climbing into the driver's seat. _"I wonder what that girl is up to."_


End file.
